Heavy Automatic Shotgun (Abzats)
The Heavy Automatic Shotgun is one of the two new weapons included in the Season Pass, and is a limited edition bonus weapon for the Xbox 360. The single most powerful non-explosive weapon in the game in terms of concentrated damage, it is a fairly innovative design, which is exactly what it looks like: a cut down version of the DShK 12.7mm Machinegun, rechambered for shotgun shells. The barrel is cut short, and grips adjusted and added for use as a man-portable weapon. It maintains its original sighting mechanism. Overview The DShK Heavy Machinegun is the basis for the weapon. After the war, Andrew the Blacksmith obtained a wide variety of old pre-war guns that were in barely-serviceable condition, and set about making them useful in some fashion or another. One of these projects was on finding a use for the DShK 12.7mm Machinegun, which, being quite old, was comparatively easy to come by in the industrial areas above-ground. As old-type 12.7x108mm rounds are hard to come by, the wily smith went about refitting the barrel to accept shotgun shells. An extendable stamped-metal stock was added. Very little needed to be actually changed for the weapon, with the gun already designed for a much more powerful shell than that used by the modified weapon. The end result was a powerful close-combat weapon, well-suited for handling the biggest of threats. Unfortunately, the design was also beyond expensive and quite bulky, ensuring that only a few in the Metro could actually afford them, and that other designs remained more popular. The weapon also had its own problems, unchanged from the mounted HMG; it is extremely heavy, weighing in at over 20 pounds even with numerous steps taken to reduce weight. Tactics and Use 350px|right The Heavy Automatic Shotgun is the most powerful weapon in terms of concentrated damage in the game; no enemy can take a full belt of ammo from it, even with less-than-optimal hits, and survive. Its huge max ammo capacity gives it a great advantage over the Uboinik and Duplet, and its rapid fire rate overpowers the advantages of the bayonet attachment and rapid follow-up shot ability of the Automatic-Shotgun and the alpha strike damage of the Double-Barreled Shotgun. This awesome power makes the Heavy Automatic Shotgun the best weapon as long as you have the right amount of skill and ammunition. Its alternate fire allows the player to fire the gun in a controlled semi-automatic fashion, allows it to maintain it's accuracy and ammunition. The Heavy Automatic Shotgun has more than a few drawbacks, however. First and foremost, it is the weakest shotgun in terms of single-shot damage, dealing somewhat less than the Uboinik or Duplet per shot. Second, it has the shortest effective range of any shotgun, with an extremely wide and variable scatter pattern. While it doesn't spray quite as wide as the Duplet, the Duplet somewhat makes up for this with area-saturation when fired with both barrels; this is an advantage that the Heavy Automatic Shotgun lacks. The Heavy Automatic Shotgun can make up for this with rapid fire, and its large ammo capacity helps this and allows it to just beat out the Uboinik in terms of DPS at just about any range. The biggest weakness of all, however, is that the Heavy Automatic Shotgun is a bullet-hose. It eats through shotgun shells about as fast as the Kalash 2012 consumes 5.45mm rounds - and with an ammo type as expensive as shotgun shells, that is an expensive investment. While the Heavy Automatic Shotgun offers unrivaled punch at close-range, it must be used effectively and carefully, or it will quickly suck your supply of shotgun shells dry - and without those, the Heavy Automatic Shotgun is that much dead weight. You should conserve the shotgun ammo you find and collect them as much as possible throughout the game, don't trade them for MGRs if you want to use this weapon, and if you are playing ranger difficulties that crosshair does not exist anymore, you should use this weapon while you are facing multiple enemies at close range, otherwise you will most likely waste your ammo. Even if you don't intend to use it, the Heavy Automatic Shotgun is worth making use of; you can sell it; exchanging it for a Duplet nets you 58 military-grade rounds, then going back to Andrew's room and picking up the gun you exchanged for the Heavy Automatic Shotgun. You can also use it as a trade-in towards other guns you may want that are available at Armory or Hole station; It lowers the cost of the Helsing with scope in Armory to a very reasonable 82 MGR. In Metro Last Light it is still an incredibly powerful weapon. It can be upgraded with a Muzzle Break, which reduces recoil, an Autofire adapter, which allows the Abzats to fire full auto and increses rate of fire, a laser sight and an Extended ammo box, which doubles its capacity. Variants and Obtaining Metro 2033 The Heavy Automatic Shotgun is a promotional weapon, requiring a download code to obtain. Once the code is redeemed, there are several chances to obtain the weapon. Note that for the weapon to appear, you will need to be logged into Xbox Live. You can, however, obtain the shotgun, disconnect, and load the save, and still have it in your inventory. The code could be obtained through pre-ordering the game or getting the "Special Edition" from Gamestop. PC gamers who have bought the game through Valve's Steam service will find that the weapon is included in the purchase as it counts as part of the free DLC. Metro Last Light The Abzats is a promotional weapon that requires the player to have purchased the Season Pass in order to appear. * The first one can be found in Undercity, near the door that uses a wooden valve to open. * One can be bought in the Depot level. Costs 200 rounds. * One can be traded in the store at D6 for free. Related Achievements Trivia * The Heavy Automatic Shotgun, like the VSV, is an example of a successful pre-war design becoming an even-more successful post-war design. * If left idle with it equipped for a while, Artyom will play around with the weapon's grips and stock. * This is the only weapon that requires DLC to appear. * This weapon, like all other shotguns, can only be shot from the hip which makes it hard to aim on Ranger difficulties. This should not be a problem when dealing with mutants, however as it can tear them down easily. * Such a weapon would be too heavy for someone to carry with a combat load. If this weapon where used, it would have to be the one and only weapon a person could carry, however it is possible that the weapon is held by the user with support of a load bearing vest or rig. Sources *http://www.ign.com/articles/2013/05/22/metro-last-light-dlc-season-pass-announced Category:Weapons